project: dutch oven cooking stations

By YakDriver, on April 21st, 2011

I attended a Dutch oven cooking demonstration hosted by the Lone Star Dutch Oven Society. I was so impressed with their ingenious cooking stations made out of re-bar and plow discs that I ordered a couple. The ovens sit about waist high so it’s easier to check the goodies while you’re cooking. They are set up on the patio and look quite nice there, but what I really needed was something more compact that would fit in the RV so I could cook at the campground without squatting by the fire ring. You know how the knees get when you reach a certain age.

I came up with a solution to my problem, which I’ll illustrate below. Basically, it’s a cookie sheet on legs over a piece of plywood. The coals go in the cookie sheet, the Dutch oven goes on top, and the standoff from the legs keeps things cool underneath. This lets me place the unit on the wooden picnic tables still found in some of the parks.

Parts needed

Parts list

Plywood

Cookie sheet

Copper tubing, 5 pieces (1/2″ X 1″)

Metal screws, 5 ea – #14 X 1 1/2″

Paint

Saw

Drill

Step 1

Step 1

I laid the cookie sheet upside down on a scrap piece of plywood. I traced the cookie sheet and then cut it out using a jig saw.

I used 80 grit sandpaper to knock off the rough edges and then sprayed both sides and the edges with high temp flat black spray paint I had left over from getting my grill ready for summer. The plywood was so porous that it took three coats to give good coverage.

Step 2

Step 2

I used two torpedo levels as an impromptu jig to align the holes for the copper legs. I drilled pilot holes through the cookie sheet and then drove the screws approximately halfway through the sheet.

After fitting the copper tubing over the exposed screws, I aligned the unit with the plywood sheet and then finished driving the metal screws into the plywood.

Finished product - top view

Finished product - side view

I will be cooking on this unit tonight, so when I get home I will post some pics of the YakDriver Dutch Oven Cook Station in action.